Samantha Marie Blog

Cheers to Portland, Maine

TRAVEL

Cheers Portland!

I just got back from a weekend away in Portland, Maine. The trip was a little surprise for my birthday back in September. (HBD to me!)

We love finding new places to explore but somehow the details of planning always get left to me. The fun part, right? (hint the sarcasm) Not this time – Kyle made sure we had reservations for dinner, an agenda of items to do and a beautiful hotel room at The Westin Portland Harborview.

View from Westin Portland Harborview hotel room in Portland, Maine

view from our hotel room

I wasn’t exactly aware of the agenda, including a visit to four breweries in 2 days. Don’t get me wrong, I love beer but I haven’t exactly acquired the taste for craft brews yet.  Ready or not – Cheers to Portland, Maine!

BREWERIES:

Bissell Brothers Brewing Company

We arrived to Bissell Brothers around 10:40 AM and I was shocked to see a huge line out the door. Again, what I wasn’t exactly aware of is on Saturdays from 11-12 is “cans only”. Meaning, you can only purchase cans during this time, which was convenient because Kyle was planning to pick some up. Is any of this connecting yet?

Bissell Brothers Brewing company in Portland, ME

If you are planning to visit Bissell Brothers on a Saturday, the recommendation we received from an employee was to return around 2 PM to let the crowds from purchasing cans to die down. They do not offer any of their own food in the building but have food trucks outside. People were able to bring the food inside to enjoy with a cold beer.

Bissell Brothers Brewery in Portland, Maine

Instead of doing flights, they have either 5 oz or 10 oz pours. The atmosphere was perfect for a group – we had 9 people with us and plenty of room.

Rising Tide Brewing Company

Now this was my kind of brewery – my favorite of the weekend! Rising Tide has outdoor seating with picnic tables, lawn games (cornhole and a giant connect four) and a food truck.

Rising Tide Brewing Company in Portland, Maine

The food truck on Saturday was, El Corazon and we shared the fish tacos for $6.50. A perfect snack while enjoying the sunshine and good beer.
Two fish tacos from El Corazon food truck at Rising Tide Brewing Company in Portland

Rising Tide offers flights – four 4 oz samples for $8.

Flight of beer at Rising Tide Brewing Company in Portland

S: Zephyr, Oktoberfest, Cutter and Soundings // Fav: Oktoberfest
K: Zephyr, Oktoberfest, Cutter and Soundings // Fav: Zephyr/Soundings

It was just the two of us when we went to the brewery but it’s a perfect place for a group of friends or to enjoy as a couple.

Shipyard

I was pleasantly surprised that at Shipyard I enjoyed their beer options the most. What can I say, I’m a fruity beer girl!

Shipyard brewery in Portland, Maine

There was limited seating located inside. It was perfect for Kyle and I but it would have been difficult to find enough space for a large party. They also offer flights – four 4 oz samples for $6.

Flight of four beer samples at Shipyard Brewery

S: Seadog Bluebery Wheat Ale, Shipyard Fireberry Tea Beer, Export-Flagship Golden Ale, Shipyard Maui Mango Tea Beer // Fav: Maui Mango
K: Monkey Fist IPA, Finder New England IPA, Little Horror of Hops Rye IPA, Shipyard Maui Mango Tea Beer // Fav: Little Horror of Hops

As you can see we only made it to 3 of the 4 breweries. There was no way we could have done another on Saturday and we spent Sunday walking around the old port and getting ready to make the 2 hour ride home.

Barrels of beer at Shipyard in Portland

Check out the rest of our trip to Portland, Maine.

Samantha Marie Blog

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